1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to apparatuses for affixing an adhesive tape to a workpiece and to a method for affixing an adhesive tape, and specifically, the invention relates to improvements in techniques for affixing adhesive tape to workpieces having a cylindrical portion.
2. Background Art
Adhesive tapes, such as labels printed with various types of product information or with barcodes, may be automatically affixed to an outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical portion of a workpiece. As methods for affixing such adhesive tapes, for example, see Japanese Unexamined Application Publications Nos. 8-169428 (first patent document) and 2001-225820 (second patent document).
In the technique disclosed in the first patent document, an adhesive tape is cut in a predetermined length by a tape-feeding portion, and the cut adhesive tape is fed to a tape-holding mechanism. The cut adhesive tape is affixed to an outer peripheral surface of a bar-shaped workpiece disposed perpendicularly to the adhesive tape on a base in the tape-holding mechanism. In the technique disclosed in the second patent document, an adhesive tape with a predetermined size is held between a thrust roller and a cylindrical container which is vertically held by a container-holding device. Then, the adhesive tape is affixed to an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical container by rotating the cylindrical container.
In the technique of the first patent document, the adhesive tape is affixed to the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece from above in a condition in which an adhesive surface faces downward, whereby the workpiece is difficult to pull out after the adhesive tape is affixed. On the other hand, in the second patent document, the adhesive tape is affixed to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical container by rotating the cylindrical container with respect to the adhesive tape. Therefore, it is difficult to produce a free-hanging tag by affixing an adhesive tape that is longer than the length of the outer periphery of the cylindrical container.